On the one hand, I was moved by the actions

When black people are put to work, something magical happens.

This fact shouldn’t surprise anyone. Hard work has always been a necessary wage to prove the existence of African Americans lest black taxes be owed. Black common sense is that we have to work at least twice as hard as our non-Black counterparts to get fair recognition and respect. Interestingly, centuries of injustice and inequality created a combination of scarcity and fate of struggle that, out of sheer necessity, gave birth to a culture of innovation that changed everything black came into contact with. From sports to fashion to technology and more.

尽管如此，在了解这一切之后，我还是观看了维纳斯和塞雷娜·威廉姆斯的父亲理查德·威廉姆斯抚养长大的鼓舞人心的故事，发现它引起了我的共鸣。由于几个原因，它继续在我的灵魂中产生共鸣。

一方面，我被一个男人的行为所感动，他决心在不可估量的情况下推动他的女儿们走向伟大，不顾怀疑论者和批评者追求一个单一的愿景。来自康普顿的两个年轻女孩以技巧和精确的方式以不懈的毅力和毅力磨练她们的手艺，这再次鼓舞了我。我什至惊奇地看着整个家庭为了希望和祈祷而冒着生命危险，相信他们的遗产将是伟大的。

与电影中的任何其他时刻相比，当被问及她最想像谁成为网球运动员时，我完全被塞丽娜对网球教练的回答所吸引。带着一种非常熟悉的穆罕默德·阿里的自信，她公开了她的大胆目标：“我希望其他人也像我一样。”

一个共同的伟大故事

看到像 Venus 和 Serena （以及康普顿的任何其他非常成功的运动员、艺术家和音乐家）这样的冠军的伟大之处，我们为他们所取得的成功而表扬他们。我主要认为我们这样做是合适的。没有什么比一个好的美国弱者故事更好的了。但这种对伟大的认可也属于康普顿的许多其他人，他们不是运动员、艺术家和音乐家。

它也属于像我这样的人和许多其他人。

我对这个叙述的主张是什么？在 4 岁时经历了身体和性虐待并被遗弃到寄养系统后，我在 8 岁时自学了如何编码，以此来恢复我觉得自己失去的一些代理权和控制权。在我遇到现实生活中的程序员之前，我已经学习了将近十年的编码。而且我不仅仅满足于优秀——我想成为最好的。在我看来，这不亚于对我的要求。我从黑人历史中学到了这一点，因为我教导说，这也是对早在我之前的创新者和工程师所要求的价格。

虽然我本身并不完全有一个理查德·威廉姆斯，但我的养父母相信我会成为名人。他们不惜一切代价为我释放尽可能多的机会。即使机会稀缺。即使他们买不起。即使我父亲在退休前两年被解雇并被骗了退休金。

就像威廉姆斯姐妹一样，他们自己知道成为白人中唯一的黑人意味着什么，我也知道在计算机科学演讲厅、工作团队或整个办公室中成为唯一的黑人是什么感觉。

I did everything I could to succeed at that notoriously tough interview at Google, and even I didn’t think I could get through. Actually, I failed on my first try. Still, that fact didn’t stop me from studying 4 hours a day for over a month and finally finding my way to success. My career has always required the same relentless perseverance, courage, determination, practice and work ethic that the Williams sisters employed in their own journeys.

Well, almost. I never have to code outdoors in the rain. But if needed, I will.

in pursuit of excellence

Let me share a little secret with you. For many blacks pursuing a path in tech, they’re not just fighting for jobs. They are fighting for their excellence and recognition of their talent. They are trying to stay first in many unfamiliar areas. In fact, making up just 5% of all software engineers in the U.S., tech talent continues to take on countless challenges, but still hasn’t held back in the quest to not only succeed in the tech game, but change it.

Like Marian Croak, she is a living legend who pioneered Voice over IP technology and holds more than 200 patents to her name. People like Justin “Thug Debugger” Samuels, founder of Render ATL, the largest black software engineering conference, have a stated mission to shroud the entire tech culture in unapologetic darkness. People like Bria Sullivan, a software engineer, left an easy job at Google to start her own gaming company and work as a startup consultant. People like Ruben Harris, opening doors to underrepresented populations through the Career Karma platform, which provides support, community and mentorship for those embarking on a journey through non-traditional tech.

And now, Serena Williams has joined this noble cause. Her recent financial investments as Brilliance Champion of Karat’s Brilliant Black Minds program are awesome. The program, which provides free practice interviews, feedback and mentoring to participants, is the start of a new movement to increase the number of black engineers in tech.

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我的康普顿校友塞雷娜·威廉姆斯的祝福对我来说意义重大。我们现在正站在如此多黑人卓越——和康普顿卓越——的交汇处，我相信这项工作将以前所未有的方式推动技术多样性的发展。它的意义几乎无法遏制。确实，它不能。

我希望有一天，社会能够以黑人在体育和娱乐领域采取行动时所表现出的同样活力来认可这种时刻的辉煌。在那一天，这一刻的真正意义或许会被更充分地理解。在那之前，工作还在继续。

Anthony D. Mays 是 Karat 的Brilliant Black Minds的高级顾问， Morgan Latimer Consulting的创始人和职业教练，华盛顿议长局的发言人，以及谷歌的前软件工程师。你可以在 Twitter 上的@anthonydmays关注他。最初发布于anthonydmays.com。